GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – Senior Marissa Daly (Marshfield, Mass.) notched a team-high four points and junior goalkeeper Jane Bunn (St. John's, Fla.) turned away 15 shots, but the 11th-ranked Saint Anselm College women's lacrosse team suffered a 17-8 defeat against top-ranked Adelphi University on Tuesday afternoon at Motamed Field.
The Hawks lose for just the sixth time in the past 21 games dating back to last season to fall to 2-1 on the year, including 1-1 in Northeast-10 play. The Panthers, who ended Saint Anselm's season in the NCAA Tournament a year ago, remain perfect at 6-0, 3-0 NE-10.
Daly scored two goals and handed out two assists, while junior Caitlin Villareal (Portsmouth, R.I.; two goals), freshman Marta Versprille (Franklin, Mass.; two goals) and senior Kaitlyn Stazinski (Pembroke, Mass.; goal, assist) all registered two points.
Adelphi leapt out to a 4-0 lead in the opening 3:42 on a pair of goals by Rachel O'Brien. The Panthers then added a pair just 1:02 apart to grab a commanding 6-0 lead at the 12:16 mark of the first half. Saint Anselm finally jumped on the board 58 seconds later as Stazinski set up a tally from freshman Erica Mattila (Westford, Mass.) to make it 6-1.
Alexa Froccaro, who already had dished a pair of helpers, potted her first goal of the day off a free-position shot to nudge the lead to 7-1 with 9:37 remaining. Versprille answered with a free-position goal of her own 56 seconds later to collect her first collegiate points and pull the Hawks within five.
Adelphi ran off three more goals, however, including O'Brien's third and Jacqueline Jahelka's second, to open the advantage to 10-2 with 5:50 on the clock. The Hawks would take some momentum into the break as Daly notched her first of the day off a feed from classmate Sarah Doherty (Franklin, Mass.) at the 2:25 mark and then junior Michelle Kudlate (Waltham, Mass.) connected with Stazinski on a goal with just 21 ticks left in the frame to make it 10-4 at halftime.
O'Brien opened the second-half scoring just 57 seconds in to expand the lead to seven. Villareal answered off a Daly pass at 27:04, but O'Brien hooked up with Froccaro just 18 seconds later to put Adelphi up, 12-5. Danielle Jaycox scored her second of the day after being set up by Jahelka, but Versprille scored again off a Daly assist to keep it a seven-goal margin at 13-6 with 22:50 left.
Adelphi would make a little run to close the door a little more on the Hawks as O'Brien fed Jahelka just 37 seconds later to start the stretch, which ended with Adelphi holding a 16-6 advantage with 18:19 left.
Daly scored again at 16:21 after being set up by junior Erin Marshall (Woburn, Mass.) and Villareal followed to cut it to 16-8 at the 10:27 mark, but neither team would find the back of the net again until Jahelka capped the scoring with 1:39 on the clock.
Bunn's 15 saves were the second most of her career and just four shy of her career best. Taylor Hayes made five stops for Adelphi.
The Panthers outshot the Hawks, 41-19, including 19-7 in the second stanza. Adelphi also doubled up Saint Anselm in draw controls, 18-9. Adelphi made five of its 10 free-position shots, while Saint Anselm went 1-for-4.
The Hawks return to action Sunday, March 22 at 1 p.m. when they play host to the fourth-ranked University of New Haven. Stay up-to-date with the latest news, including game previews and recaps, directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter @STAHawks.
